Police inspector in £100,000 fraud is jailed for 18 months

£50,000-a-year officer set up bogus payments after taking second job

A POLICE inspector who pocketed more than £100,000 in bogus payments while working as a financial adviser has been jailed for 18 months.

David Brown, 46, scammed thousands of pounds by setting up fake accounts in the names of investors, including family and friends, while working for the British Transport Police (BTP).

Brown, of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, carried out the fraud by applying for insurance policies for people without their knowledge and pocketed the commission paid out by Legal and General.

He even took out policies in the names of his brother, also a serving police officer, his mother-in-law, and other work colleagues.

Brown, a married father-of-one, had been suspended from police duties as he faced the allegations.

He has now been jailed at Hamilton Sheriff Court after admitting fraudulently accepting commissions totalling £92,365 between 2010 and 2011.

He also admitted gaining £9,590 by applying for loans from the Scottish Police credit union in 2013 while pretending to live at his mother’s house in Bellshill when really he was still staying in a £300,000 detached house in Motherwell.

Prosecutors made an application to seize Brown’s police pension under proceeds of crime legislation.

Brown had worked with the BTP since 1990, eventually becoming a £50,000 a year inspector. In September 2009 he took on a second job with Glasgow-based financial services firm Ronald H Smith & Co.

However, an investigation launched after discrepancies were found in his accounts discovered 90 per cent of policies sold by him were lapsed, cancelled or had disappeared.

He was sacked in October 2011 and a police probe found 52 false policies had been submitted by him.

Iain Bradley, defending, said: “He had a successful career in the police, specialising in crime management and he received several commendations. As part of his job he had to deal with railway deaths and these may have taken more of a toll than he realised.

“He has suffered from depression for many years and he had a pre-disposition to spend to make himself feel better.

“He also found himself financially stretched at the time of the economic crash when he moved into a new house and the sale of his previous house fell through.

“He was the originator of this fraud and he was not its sole beneficiary, but he accepts his involvement in it. He has been suspended by British Transport Police since 2012 and his employment with them will end.”

Depute fiscal Paula Russell told the court Brown’s crimes were discovered when customer Anna Dunne realised unauthorised payments were being lifted from her bank account.

The court heard Brown had been made bankrupt in 2013 with debts of £331,673.

Sentencing, Sheriff David Bicket said: “I note you have an exemplary record of public service,

“Notwithstanding that this fraud went on for 11 months and involved a significant amount of money, it involved dishonesty by you and because of the seriousness of this offence I can’t deal with this other than by way a custodial sentence.”

‘‘ As part of his job he had to deal with railway deaths and these may have taken more of a toll than he realised